Research Chair for Gateway

A new Research Chair has been appointed for Gateway, and University of Waterloo professor in the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies, Heather Mair will fill that position.

Majority of the work in one of the main areas of research that Mair does is in community development and the role that recreation sport and leisure can play in community involvement.

Mair, who grew up in rural New Brunswick and has a PhD in rural development, says that around 80 percent of her work on community involvement is set in rural areas.

Residing in Guelph and working in Waterloo, Mair was introduced to Gateway through a colleague at the University of Guelph. At the time, her colleague suggested working with Gateway, as an incredible opportunity to build research networking and to work on projects that matter to communities.

“A lot of the work that I do is not chosen by me. I get approached by communities, or I get interested in a project and I am always looking for new ways to generate projects that can be used in and by communities, and ways for students to get out and get work,” says Mair.

A favourite past project of Mair is a national study on the role of curling clubs in rural Canada.

“One of the things that I try to do with my work is illustrate the social importance. The physical stuff is important and curling has a physical component for sure, but especially in small towns, it can be a centre for town life. It can be a source and resource for wellbeing, for social connections, for community – above and beyond the physical aspects,” adds Mair.

In 2005 Mair travelled around to rural communities in the summer and spent time in the clubs.

“One of the first things I did for this project was talk to the people who ran the clubs, about the role that it played. I heard a lot about the social role that it plays. I did that for five years, and went to 22 clubs, all across the country.”

What Mair saw in the clubs, especially with the older adults, was an immediate plug into a social network. She saw people embraced and questions asked about family and life. For Mair, these social and interpersonal interactions are just as important as the physicality of sport.

“It’s an instant social connection that we have never measured or evaluated. I have done work with the Canadian Curling Association, Curling Canada and a lot of their agenda is about medals and elite athlete development, which is fine. I don’t disagree with that as an idea. But, there is an argument that it can be overemphasized to the exclusion of all the other things that happen in sport, the recreation component,” says Mair.

“I have been working on banging the gong with Curling Canada, to not forget to see these places as health places. Places for wellbeing, especially in small communities.”

When Mair started to think about Gateway, she believes the board saw potential to promote recreational sports as social places for wellbeing too. Mair is looking forward to work in a community like Goderich that takes health and health planning so seriously.

An unpaid position, as Research Chair, according to Mair, is a voluntary position but mostly an honour to be affiliated with Gateway and a network that Mair can tap into for research projects.

Mair adds that, “We [Gateway and Mair] are going to talk about how to generate a long-term project that meets the community’s needs, get students the type of training that we think they need and gets us the kind of research information that we really need.”

During the spring, Mair will be teaching a graduate class and has tentative plans with Gateway that they may be able to use that class for a potential future project.

“Even though that is only a four month window, we can probably get something pretty cool done. For them, for the students, it’s experiential learning and it’s exposure to a part of the country and province that they don’t know,” adds Mair.

Rural communities often have transportation issues, distance issues, generational issues and health care – the context of rural is different to someone who has never lived here, so for Mair and Gateway, to get the research projects done here, changes things.

To have the curling club in rural communities to be one of the main focuses for projects while acting as Research Chair would be a fantastic initiative for Mair, but there is more to it than making plans and doing the research – these projects often require funding.

“If it’s in collaboration with Gateway, one of the things that we would work on would be getting funding. I would submit an application for one of the various granting agencies that we work with at the university. Then Gateway would either be a formal partner or write a letter of recommendation. In that sense, to my mind, it would have be approved formally and the board would be ok with it, ” comments Mair on the authority of choosing projects.

Filling the position of Research Chair, Mair is looking forward to doing work within the community, bringing with her a set of curiosities and excitement on having a conversation about the top needs of Gateway and to find a way to get some projects rolling.

“A great outcome would be undertaking a project that involves students and either measures and assesses a need or evaluates an already existing attempt to change or meet a need. We can evaluate things and see if they are working well,” says Mair.

“We can give this organization [Gateway], good, evidence-based information that can support continuing something, changing something or starting something. That will be exciting and if I can get students here on the ground doing that work, I think that is just awesome.”